Dr. Wrestling:Destination X

Destination X is live tomorrow on PPV but to be completely honest, despite the 10,000 tack match and the ultimate X match, I could really careless about the show. Mainly because it’s the same story as usual with TNA, good talent with terrible booking. I wasn’t even going to write a column discussing the show but hey, why not write a column about Destination X? Wait…never mind there’s too many reasons to list so instead let’s get to the card and pick some of the winners.

Beautiful People & Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi, Taylor Wilde & The Governor is a match that is probably just booked to take up some time during the PPV but to get it out of the way, I’ll pick Roxxi and Wilde to win the match. I have to say, The Governor gimmick was ok and made sense in the months leading up to the election but why still have it on T.V. now? I mean really, Sarah Palin’s name is mostly no longer in the news so what benefit does TNA really receive from having a lame impersonator in the ring? I’ve read some reports online that the “governor” character is actually former WCW star, Daffney and if that’s the case, why not just use Daffney as Daffney? This match along with the ODB “contest” at the PPV really displays how TNA took the Knockouts division, which at one point was the highlight of Impact and made it into a joke. Velvet and Angelina have shown the ability to get over as heels with a lot of heat so I don’t understand why TNA wouldn’t put them in a storyline with some substance. I wonder the same thing when it comes to Roxxi, who I think has major potential that TNA has yet to capitalize on at this point. When Roxxi originally had her head shaved and was bleeding it created the “hardcore knockout” character she is currently portraying but did TNA really building on it? I don’t think so because Roxxi hasn’t been in any type of weapons match nor has she really been given the spotlight to show the tough side of her character that made the head shaving incident memorable. Just a side note, is anyone else wondering why Taylor Wilde is announced as being from Canada but has red, white, and blue ring attire?

Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner is a match that I don’t expect to be a classic but I would expect Joe to get the win and this is a match that I hope lays the foundation for the rebuilding of Joe’s character. Joe made his name in Ring Of Honor where he was portrayed as a monster wrecking machine and TNA followed that lead when Joe debuted in the company but in the past year or so, Joe’s character has been watered down and in some respects, Joe has been pushed to the side in the past few months. It almost makes you shake your head in disappointment that the wrestler that was once thought of as “the future of the company” now has to almost start from scratch to rebuild his character. Don’t get me wrong here, I think Joe has all the skill to carry the company and SHOULD carry the company but I just don’t think that is in the cards for him as long as Angle and Sting are under TNA contracts. Joe vs. A.J. Joe vs. Hernandez, or even Joe vs. Abyss in a TNA world title match could help the company but all things considered, that doesn’t seem to be TNA’s direction for the company.

Abyss vs. Matt Morgan is the 10,000 tacks match and I expect it to be a good match because I’m sure Abyss will put his body on the line the way he does in all TNA gimmick matches, which is something that he deserves credit for. There’s been so many mistakes made with Abyss’ character in my opinion over the last few years and I’ve mentioned them in past columns so I’m not going to review them again but I will say however, that if the 10,000 tack match is a step toward Abyss renewing his monster character then I’d think it’s a step in the right direction. That being said, one of the critical errors in the Abyss scenario that I don’t think I’ve pointed out before is that TNA no longer uses James Mitchell. Not only is Mitchell a perfect fit for Abyss’ manager but even if he’s not Abyss’ manager I would think that Mitchell could still make a major contribution to storylines with his mic skills. During his ECW run, Mitchell was sometimes used as a “narrator” of sorts to set up or explain storylines, which is something that I think could help TNA. Aside from that, Mitchell is probably the most under rated manager in wrestling history because despite his unique look and great mic skills, he doesn’t really get the credit he deserves.

Sojo Bolt vs. Awesome Kong is for the Knockouts title and I expect it to be a solid match but I don’t expect a title change here because Kong is the “glue” that’s holding the Knockouts division together and keeping it from being a total joke. It will be interesting to see if TNA actually showcases the Knockouts division the way it deserves to be sometimes in the future or if they will continue to try to minimize it’s “impact” on the company. Quite frankly, I think TNA is intentionally scaling back the spotlight on the Knockout title and division as a whole because they don’t want it to over shadow the main event picture, which it did when Gail Kim and Kong were stealing the show during their feud for the Knockout title.

Team 3D vs. champions Beer Money is a match for the TNA tag titles and if Team 3D loses then they are “fired” from TNA. Depending on which website you go to, Team 3D have been leaving TNA for about the past two years so I doubt TNA is leaving the company at this point, which is why I will pick them to win this match. Team 3D are the current IWGP tag champions for the New Japan promotion and because of that TNA has a unique opportunity to have Team 3D be the champions of both companies, which was done with Kurt Angle in the past so it’s defiantly possible that Team 3D can win the TNA tag titles at Destination X.

AJ Styles vs. Booker T is a “Legends” title match and I think it’s fairly obvious that A.J. will win the title to start the storyline of Booker trying to get the title back. I don’t have much to say about this match considering that I’m not a Booker T fan, I think the “Legends” title is a joke, and that TNA could be doing something a lot better with A.J. then having him wrestle Booker T.

The Ultimate X match is going to be a showcase of some amazing skills and all the wrestlers deserve credit for the risks they are going to take in this match. Aside from the great action, I think there will be a not so great result to the match if Suicide wins the X Division title. Suicide, who last I heard was Kaz under the mask is a character based on a video game that flopped. Is that enough to tell you not to actually put the character on T.V.? The whole gimmick seems like something from a cartoon and plays out very tacky on T.V. Okay, he flies in from the ceiling, moves a few moves, and poses then flies away but why? He’s done the same thing for months and there’s been no real progress made in the storyline. Kaz, who I think was on track to being a major star in TNA had the brakes put on his push and now is flying around in a skeleton costume so it would seem like he is yet another victim of TNA’s booking.

The main event does have some interest because it presents the opportunity for a heel turn that could flip the entire perception of the main event picture in TNA. The Main Event Mafia’s gimmick is that they are all former would champions. Well, so are the special guest refs for this match, Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley. Since Foley has reached legend status, I don’t think he will turn heel and I don’t think he would get over as a heel in TNA anyway, but Jarrett turning heel could give TNA’s main event scene a much needed spark. Although, it’s been reported that TNA is already advertising “Team Jarrett vs. Team Angle” for the Lockdown PPV in April so it doesn’t look like a Jarrett heel turn will happen, which is why I’m going to pick Sting to retain the title.